illuviate

I1L1L1U1V4I1A1T1E1

verb

To leach from an overlying stratum and accumulate in suspension.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

verbilluviate (third-person singular simple present illuviates, present participle illuviating, simple past and past participle illuviated)

present singular third person illuviates · participle present illuviating · participle past illuviated · past illuviated

  1. geographyTo leach from an overlying stratum and accumulate in suspension.

    Defining the exact mechanism by which these metal cations become mobile and illuviate is where the two main theories of podzolization diverge.

    2011, Pan Ming Huang, Yuncong Li, Malcolm E. Sumner, Handbook of Soil Sciences: Properties and Processes, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    This is due to the reason that these materials are rich in organic matter which tend to illuviate from the surface to the subsurface in the longrun and have tend to increase the clay per cent in the subsurface soil layers (Prashanthi, 1997).

    1998, Agricultural Reviews - Volumes 19-22, page 22

    In flooding seasons, because the Eh value rises beginning from the lower part of this horizon downwards, some substances moving with the water begin to illuviate here, resulting in the formation of mottling spots and coatings.

    2012, B.A. Stewart, Advances in Soil Science - Volume 5, →ISBN, page 190
Cite this entry
APA

illuviate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illuviate

MLA

“illuviate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illuviate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “illuviate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illuviate.

Source: illuviate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.